Police initially focused on the grandmother but now say the children’s mother also remains part of the investigation.

MECHANICVILLE, N.Y. — A month after six members of one family were found dead inside an upstate New York apartment, police say they still cannot give a final account of what happened or identify with certainty who was responsible for the deaths of four children.

Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbitt said investigators have not ruled out the possible involvement of 44-year-old Sarah Myers, the children’s mother, even though authorities previously said evidence strongly suggested that Myers’ mother, 64-year-old Amy Steadman, played a role. The new statement underscores how much remains unsettled as police wait for toxicology results and other forensic findings. No living suspect has been charged, and both women were found dead with the children.

The six bodies were discovered June 23 in Steadman’s apartment at the John S. Moore housing complex on Harris Avenue. Police identified the children as Harper Harmon, 13; Hudson Harmon, 11; and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn Harmon. Myers and the children lived in a separate unit nearby, but all six were found inside Steadman’s residence after officers arrived for a welfare check.

Neighbors had become concerned because they had not seen the family for several days. By the time police entered the apartment, the bodies had been there for an extended period, Rabbitt said. Their condition made immediate identification difficult and complicated the work of determining when each person died, how the deaths occurred and whether the same method was used in every case.

Investigators found numerous prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications inside the residence. Rabbitt said the physical evidence pointed to intentional poisoning rather than an accidental exposure. Police also recovered a handwritten note, but they have not released its contents or said whether it was signed. Authorities have not publicly identified the medications, the amounts involved or which family members may have ingested them. One child suffered what police described as fatal sharp-force injuries. Officials have not identified that child or provided further detail about the injury. The other deaths appeared consistent with poisoning, according to the preliminary investigation, but the official causes and manners of death remain subject to medical examiner findings. Police have avoided declaring that all six deaths occurred in the same way.

At a June briefing, Rabbitt said the evidence collected inside the apartment strongly suggested Steadman was involved. That conclusion was based partly on the note and the medications found at the scene. Police also said they had found no indication that an outside person entered the apartment and harmed the family. That assessment reduced concern about an ongoing threat to the community but did not answer whether Steadman acted alone.

The chief’s later statement about Myers changed the public understanding of the case. Rabbitt said police had not ruled out the possibility that she was complicit in the deaths of her children. He did not describe the evidence that led investigators to keep that possibility open. He also did not say whether police believe Myers participated willingly, was under pressure or had no involvement at all. Those questions remain part of the inquiry.

The distinction matters because early reports centered almost entirely on Steadman. Those reports described her as the suspected perpetrator and connected the timing of the deaths to a long custody dispute involving the children’s father, Brady Harmon. Police, however, have not announced an established motive. They have not said that the custody case caused the deaths or that resentment over the planned summer visit has been proven through the note, electronic records or witness statements.

Harmon had not seen the four children in person since 2019, when Myers left Utah with them. He said his contact during the following years was limited and that he had been fighting through the courts for time with them. Under a custody arrangement reported by local news organizations, the children were expected to spend an uninterrupted part of the summer with their father.

Harmon was preparing to travel east and bring the children to Utah around the start of July. Instead, police contacted him after the bodies were discovered. He said he had recently spoken with the children by video and believed he was close to seeing them again. The planned reunion became one of the most painful parts of the case, but investigators have not publicly established that it explains the deaths.

Myers had also been expected in court in connection with the continuing custody dispute. Court records reviewed by local news organizations described years of conflict over parenting time and compliance with prior orders. Those records provide context for the family’s circumstances, but they do not determine criminal responsibility. A contested custody case, on its own, does not establish who caused the deaths or why.

The investigation is further complicated because none of the adults found in the apartment can be questioned. Detectives must instead rely on physical evidence, toxicology, electronic communications, medical records, the handwritten note and interviews with people who knew the family. Investigators may also need to establish whether the medications belonged to one person, whether they were administered to others and whether more than one person handled them.

Toxicology testing can be especially important in suspected poisoning cases because the presence of a drug does not by itself show how it entered a person’s body or whether it caused death. Investigators must compare laboratory results with autopsy findings, prescription histories and evidence from the scene. The advanced condition of the bodies may make some conclusions more difficult and may delay a final determination.

Rabbitt has said additional forensic testing must be completed before police can release a fuller account. He has not publicly discussed the wording of the note, whether fingerprints or DNA were recovered from relevant items, or whether investigators found messages that indicate planning. Police have also not announced a confirmed sequence showing which family member died first or how much time passed between the deaths. The four children have since been cremated and returned to Utah. Harmon said he retrieved their remains July 2 and held a funeral before spreading their ashes on a mountain where his father’s ashes had been placed. He also collected some of the children’s belongings from the apartment where they had lived with Myers.

Harmon and his wife have said they want greater scrutiny of the systems that had contact with the family before the deaths. He said he had received correspondence connected to child protective services investigations during the custody dispute. Some records reported by local media included findings involving inadequate guardianship or educational neglect, but the full case files are not public, and the agencies involved have not released a complete account of their decisions.

Those concerns are separate from the central criminal question now facing Mechanicville police. Investigators must determine whether Steadman caused the deaths, whether Myers participated, whether either woman acted without the other’s knowledge or whether the evidence supports another explanation. The fact that police have identified suspected intentional poisoning does not resolve the roles of the two adults.

Authorities have said they found no evidence that another person was involved inside the apartment. That statement remains a preliminary investigative conclusion rather than a court-tested finding. Because every person believed to have been present is dead, there may never be a criminal prosecution in which evidence is presented publicly and challenged by a defense lawyer. For now, the case remains open as investigators await final toxicology and forensic results. Police have not released the full note, final autopsy conclusions or a confirmed motive, and they continue to caution that the available evidence does not yet provide a complete account of the six deaths.

Author note: Last updated July 23, 2026.